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SRP to build solar power plant in E.V.
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Solar panels can be seen on the roofs of homes in this Apache Junction subdivision on Saturday, April 25, 2009. Salt River Project said Friday it will build a solar power plant in the East Valley that will give its electric customers an alternative to rooftop solar panels.
Darryl Webb, Tribune
Salt River Project said Friday it will build a 20-megawatt solar power plant in the East Valley that will give its electric customers an alternative to rooftop solar panels if they wish to use renewable power.
The $75 million plant will be the largest utility-scale solar photovoltaic facility in Arizona, producing enough power to serve more than 4,500 homes, said Associate General Manager Mark Bonsall.
The plant will be built and operated by Iberdrola Renewables, with SRP purchasing 100 percent of the electricity that it produces, he said.
The project, which still requires the approval of SRP's Board of Directors, is scheduled to be completed by mid-2011 at the latest and possibly as early as the end of 2010, Bonsall said.
Iberdrola is negotiating for a 150-acre site in the south East Valley for the plant. If that land deal cannot be completed, SRP will provide a site that it owns near the intersection of Judd and Attaway roads southeast of Queen Creek.
Both locations are near major transmission lines, Bonsall said.
A customer interested in receiving power from the plant would sign an agreement to purchase the amount of electricity that would be equal what would be produced by a rooftop solar photovoltaic unit, he said. The arrangement allows the customer to buy solar energy without the hassles of arranging for construction of a rooftop unit or paying a large up-front cost, he said.
SRP officials believe solar customers will save money overall because of economies of scale resulting from one large plant at one location instead of custom-building separate rooftop units for individual home and business.
"We think there are people who will be interested in this configuration," he said.
He said, however, SRP will continue to subsidize and support individual rooftop solar units because some customers may prefer them. The solar plant is the second large renewable project SRP has launched with Iberdrola, a Spanish company whose U.S. operations are based in Portland, Ore. Iberdrola also built the Dry Lake Wind Farm in Navajo County, which opened last month and generates enough electricity to power more than 15,000 homes.
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